N.W.A.’s Rap Classic ‘Straight Outta Compton’ to Be Preserved by Library of Congress

On Wednesday it was announced that the controversial rap landmark Straight Outta Compton by the group N.W.A.–which consists of Dr. Dre, MC Ren, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince–is among this year’s 25 selections for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, the rap website Siccness.netreports today.

Other recordings chosen this year for being “culturally, historically, or artistically significant” include the 1888 London cylinder recordings of Col. George Gouraud, audio of Vin Scully announcing the 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants baseball game at New York’s Polo Grounds, and Wanted: Live in Concert by Richard Pryor.

At the time of release, Straight Outta Compton was met with widespread criticism and controversy. It was an early album to get the Recording Industry Association of America’s parental advisory sticker, and an assistant director of the FBI even wrote a letter to the group’s label expressing alarm at their song “Fuck tha Police.” All of this and more led to N.W.A.’s reputation in popular culture as “The World’s Most Dangerous Group.”